Christiana Care Health System is recruiting for a Full-Time Nurse Practitioner II to join our thriving Advanced Heart Failure/LVAD practice. The Nurse Practitioner is responsible for direct patient care in both the acute care and outpatient clinic for chronically ill heart failure patients and for advanced heart failure patients undergoing LVAD evaluation, implantation and ongoing follow up care. The Nurse Practitioner also shares in program responsibilities including Joint Commission Accreditation and Performance Improvement projects. This position requires sharing LVAD on-call in a 24/7 coverage model with the other Advanced Heart Failure/LVAD practitioner.

Specific responsibilities include:

Managing the clinical care of high-risk advanced heart failure patients to ensure optimization of patients’ clinical, functional and psychosocial status in collaboration with the Multidisciplinary team.

Provide autonomous and advanced assessment, planning and coordinating of care, monitoring the treatment plan as indicated, and monitoring and evaluating outcomes

Performing admission H&Ps, patient assessment, writing orders, interpreting labs, studies and tests, and intervening at a high level of practice

Participating in daily rounding, and modification in the individualized plan of care

Identifying potential candidates that require VAD or other forms of mechanical circulatory support

Planning and coordinating the discharges for hospital patients, and arranging home infusion medications, such as Inotropic therapy

Providing extensive teaching and support to patients and families regarding their disease and any potential procedures (LVAD, Cardiomems, Cardiac Caths)

Maintaining an outpatient clinic seeing Heart Failure and LVAD patients in follow up, new post-discharge patients, new consultations in collaboration with the Attending, and LVAD evaluations with the goal of improving outcomes, helping patients attain better quality of life, avoid re-hospitalizations, and reduce likelihood of adverse events

Playing a key role in maintaining the normal functioning of the LVAD system and the overall health of the patient pre, intra and post operatively

Coordinating care and communication amongst the multi-disciplinary team at CCHS and at shared care transplant centers (PENN, Jefferson, Hopkins)

Providing highly specialized care for patients with LVAD who present in the ED or other areas of our health system with device issues or with unrelated medical needs, ensuring patient safety at all times and providing support to medical care teams treating these patients

Educating patients and families about the treatment and life with a LVAD and after implantation and is critical to helping patients and families manage the complex home regimen required to successfully live unique to doing so with the device

Christiana Care’s Advanced Heart Failure and LVAD programs are accredited by The Joint Commission. The LVAD Program is designated as Destination Therapy Center and implanting HeartMateII devices. Once a patient receives an implant they are followed by the program for life, similar to a transplant program. Our program Nurse Practitioners coordinates clinical needs amongst multiple community providers (physicians, SNF, EMS, Behavioral Health, etc) and participates in 1:2 call to be available 24/7 to respond to urgent issues like device alarms or life-threatening changes in condition.

Qualified applicants will have a Master’s Degree as a Nurse Practitioner or and will possess 5 years of nursing experience in a critical care or cardiovascular nursing. LVAD and Heart Failure clinical and program management experience is preferred. ACLS is required.